Govt to soon decide on toll road price

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is expected to announce the toll rate for the Cipularang (Cikampek-Purwakarta-Padalarang) toll road, a shortcut from Jakarta to Bandung, as early as this week, an official says.

"The Ministry of Public Works has received the recommendation from an intra-ministry team, which will be submitted to the minister. Hopefully, we will be able to announce the rate soon," director for infrastructure network Eduard P. Pauner was quoted by Antara as saying on Monday.

The newswire quoted Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto who said during the weekend he had received a recommendation for the toll road price, which he was still studying. The team proposed the Cipularang toll road be priced at Rp 355 (4 U.S. cents) per kilometer, or Rp 29,000 for one trip from Jakarta to Bandung, the report said.

The public works ministry in consultation with the Ministry of Transportation will make the final decision on the toll fee.

While it is presently operational, part of the road is still being repaired by state developer PT Adhi Karya and toll road operator PT Jasa Marga and the public works ministry says the road remains free for the trial period.

Completion of the Rp 1.6 trillion road was rushed so it would be ready for the Asian-African Conference in Bandung in April.

With the new toll road, the trip from Bandung-Jakarta, which is about 160 kilometers, can be made in as little as to two and a-half hours, down from the normal time of about five hours.

The operation of the toll road has increased the numbers of vehicles traveling to Bandung by almost 14,000 vehicles a day from an average of 125,000.